a developing love
by Orange Pens and Messy Hands
Summary: A series of one-shots revolving around the relationship between Star-Lord and Gamora, involving the usual banter from the rest of the crew of the Milano. Not in any particular chronological order. Chapter 5: "I think my mom would've loved you." In which Gamora knows Peter loves her, but she knows he really means it when his mom gets involved.
1. what doesn't dancing solve?

**Words w/out AN: 1316**

**Pairing(s): Starmora**

**I own nothing**

what doesn't dancing solve?

* * *

Peter leans back in the pilot seat of the Milano. Not much piloting was necessary since autopilot did most of the work. Peter's able to calm down and kick his feet on the dash without too much worry of accidentally hitting some button or switch and disastrously throwing him and the rest of the Guardians off course.

He remembers back when it was just him on the ship. He spent most of his time in the cockpit of the Milano. It was nice and quiet. The passing planets and stars made for a nice view as the silence let him dwell on his thoughts, although it was lonely.

Ever since the Guardians became permanent passengers, that hasn't been a problem for Peter. In fact, it was quite difficult to find a moment to himself anywhere on his vessel. You're always able to hear one of the other Guardians from _somewhere_ in the ship. Whether it was Rocket hammering away on some weapon or the sound of Gamora slashing with her sword on some practice dummies. Or one of the countless petty arguments everyone gets in with each other, all the time.

For instance one particular argument was about the best way to kill a chitauri. Drax says it's with fire but Rocket insists a bullet to the head will do just fine.

"But then you can see them panic as they slowly burn to death!" Drax laughed. "It is like they are dancing!"

"Well that's disturbing." Rocket muttered.

As much as Peter appreciates the lack of loneliness, he sometimes misses his quiet time, too.

His alone time.

But here, in his cockpit in the middle of the night while everyone else on board is sleeping, Peter discovers his new alone time.

After another nightmare, Peter stumbled around the ship trying to clear his head. The eerie silence shocked him. He can't remember hearing, or in this case _not_ hearing, anything like it since before he gained some new occupants. He could hear every creak and squeak of the ship.

He wandered down to the cockpit to check on how far away from their destination they were, and that's where he was now.

Although they've only been on his ship for just over three weeks, it feels like so long ago, he thinks to himself.

Peter feels so nostalgic right now.

The passing stars and planets, the silence. It all reminds him of a time before the Guardians.

Not that it was necessarily better, but for the moment it was peaceful, and he might as well appreciate it while it lasts.

But even with the newfound silence throughout the ship, his alone time doesn't last.

Gamora manages to stealthily shuffle behind the piloting chair.

"Why aren't you asleep?" She asks, scaring Peter so much that he jumps out of the chair.

He spins around to face the voice, hand reaching for his holster.

"Holy hell, Gamora." He says relieved, his hand relaxing. "What are you doing sneaking around the ship?"

"I'm not _sneaking_ around the ship. I'm merely walking." She scowls. "What are you doing?"

"I'm… relaxing." Peter carefully says.

"Were you stressed?" She asks, leaning against the chair he sat back down in;

Peter looks forward, avoiding eye contact. He doesn't really feel like exposing how he gets scared from stupid dreams.

"I couldn't sleep." He says instead.

"Nightmares?" Gamora asks, somehow pinpointing his exact problem.

"What? No I- I don't… Yeah." He reluctantly says. He sighs and leans back in his chair.

Gamora takes a seat in one of the chairs ahead of him and swivels to face him. She looks past him, thinking about something. She sighs and Peter wonders why she seems so tired.

Peter leans forward, focusing on her, wondering if she's okay. "Gamora, are you alright? You seem exhausted."

"Like you, I am plagued by nightmares. Although ever since we met, I haven't had them."

"Really…?" Peter says, wondering how she does it. "Isn't that a good thing?"

"My sleep has been peaceful, but that doesn't mean it comes easily." She says. "It usually takes me a while before I'm able to fall asleep."

"That makes two of us then." Peter comments. "I remember when it was just me on the ship. I spent countless nights up here, looking at the stars and planets."

"It really is beautiful…" Gamora says, taking in the scene before her.

"Yeah, it's a special place for me. Being alone here was really nice. I could come here and think without any distractions."

"Oh…" Gamora says, suddenly looking guilty. She looks away from him and starts shaking her head, "I'm sorry, of course. You wanted to be along, and I'm ruining that for you. I should go."

She makes to walk past him but Peter sticks an arm up and stops her, standing up in the process. "No! Wait, I- I didn't mean it like that. I really enjoy spending time with you."

"You do?"

"Yes, of course." He locks eyes with her and he figures she realizes how he actually means it.

Gamora leans against the armrest of his chair and Peter is still holding onto her from when he stopped her. They stare at each other, only an arm's length apart and Peter's breath hitches. He looks down at his arm holding her, not bothering to move it. He pulls his wandering eyes up, stopping ever so slightly on her lips as he goes to make eye contact again.

They're both subconsciously leaning in when Gamora stops. "Tell me about your dreams, Peter. Why can't you sleep?"

"My mom." He eventually says. "Every time I close my eyes, I can see her. She's laying in the hospital bed. She wanted me to take her hand. I didn't take her hand."

"Peter…" Gamora says. She takes his hand with her free hand. Everywhere their skin met was warm to the touch.

"Then she died. Right there in front of me." Peter was practically whispering now. "It's like that memory is seared inside my brain. I should've just grabbed her hand."

"Peter, I'm so sorry." She tells him.

"It's okay." He says. "We all have things we regret. Sometimes it's not possible to fix things, so all we can do is move on. I learned that a long time ago."

Gamora pulls him in for a hug, resting her head on his chest. Peter hits a button on his wrist gauntlet and soft, quiet music fills the room they're in.

They don't release from the hug, instead swaying along to it.

"My mom used to say dancing could solve any problem." Peter whispers in her ear.

"Was she right?" She asks, looking up at him. "Is it working?"

"If I manage to fall asleep without any nightmares, I'd say it is."

They continue on in silence, swaying left and right, from one song to the next. Eventually, Peter stifles a yawn or two and Gamora may or may not be asleep, unconsciously swaying with Peter. He stops them, turning off the music.

Gamora seems to be asleep, or as close to as she could possibly be. Peter laughs and scoops her up, carrying her to her room.

"I really appreciate how supportive you are of me, even for something as silly as 'bad dreams'." He tells her sleeping form.

"Hmm." She says, no actual coherent words said. Her eyes were still closed.

He tucks her into her bed and places a tender kiss to her cheek. "Thank you."

He yawns and goes to walk away but Gamora has his hand in hers, stopping him.

"Hmmmmm." She mumbles.

"I'll take that as a good night." With a final wave he leaves and closes her door.

* * *

O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O

* * *

When he wakes up in the morning, he's pleasantly surprised to have had a clear night with no bad dreams.

* * *

**hello, its me again. i posted something different because i recently watched GotG 1 & 2 + infinity war and endgame and I'm obsessed with star-lord and gamora. I'm thinking i'll keep all my gotg fics in one area (this area) just because there's a few i wanna do and they all can take place in the same universe so it might as well be the same fic. it's kinda like snapshots of the progression of starmora's relationship with the full guardians banter every now and then. pls let me know what you think of this because i'd love to know where to improve, since i'm stepping out of my comfort zone, writing about new characters and stuff. I tried hard to write gamora and peter accurately but i have a sneaking suspicion that i've horribly messed it up. oh well, all mistakes are mine and i hope you all enjoyed (also yeah i've been super inactive but i'll try and change that)**


	2. the hardest choices

**Infinity War spoilers (if you haven't seen it already for some reason. it's been a year people, come on.)**

**Words w/out AN: 1444**

**Pairing(s): Starmora**

**I own nothing**

the hardest choices

* * *

Peter has faced a lot of enemies during his adventures in space.

But none were as intimidating as Thanos.

Tall, strong, _powerful_. Peter has no doubt that Thanos could kill him as quickly as Rocket could build some sort of weapon from spare parts from the Milano.

It was especially difficult to face him since he happens to be Gamora's father. It amazes Peter that someone like Gamora was raised by someone like Thanos. Gamora is kind. She cares about anyone and everyone in the galaxy, even her sister, Nebula, who's tried to kill her more times than he can count. She's amazing, really, and the fact that someone as ruthless as Thanos is her father blows Peter's mind.

Although Peter really isn't the person to be criticizing fathers, since his own father was an ancient celestial that murdered his mom (and thousands of others too, but mainly his mom.)

Being raised by someone from childhood, you're bound to adopt some personality traits. When she wants to be, Gamora can be as ruthless as her father, more even. There's a reason she's known as the most deadly assassin in the galaxy. Peter knows Gamora has done some things in the past that she regrets, but that's the difference between her and Thanos. Gamora is changing, she knows what she did was wrong and she tries to better herself. Thanos, on the other hand, is straight up crazy, Peter thinks. He actually believes that killing half the universe is a good idea.

And unfortunately for the Guardians, he has the resources to carry out his plan.

So when Peter, Gamora, Drax and Mantis went to intercept him on his way to Knowhere, Peter never would have thought he would end up pointing a gun at Gamora, instead.

* * *

O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O

* * *

Peter watched Gamora eye her knife, balancing it in her hand.

He knew it was originally a gift from Thanos, and the closer they got to Knowhere, the closer they got to _him_.

"Gamora," Peter interrupted her brooding session. "Do you know if these grenades are the 'blow off your junk kind,' or the gas kind because I was thinking about hanging a couple on my belt right here, but I don't want to-"

"I need to ask a favour." Gamora cut in.

Peter didn't like her tone. Something serious was going on.

"Yeah, sure." He said.

"One way or another, the path that we're on leads to Thanos." She stood.

"Which is what the grenades are for." Peter joked, trying to make things less serious. She scowled. "Uhh, I'm sorry. What's the- what's the favour?"

"If things go wrong," The assassin started.

Peter frowned, confused. What was she talking about?

"If Thanos _gets_ me." She continued. She looked at him. "I want you to promise me you'll kill me."

* * *

O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O

* * *

Peter and his team touched down on the surface of Knowhere shortly after. Gamora's words were still echoing in his head. The magnitude of the situation he agreed to was getting to him.

The Guardians crept forward, towards the Collector's home. Peter held up a hand signal, telling the Guardians to stop. None of them listened, however, moving forward as if he wasn't even there.

He'd have to work on their listening skills later because up ahead was Thanos. Every thought he suddenly had was shoved to the back of his mind. Instead, focusing on the monster in front of him.

Thanos was interrogating the Collector, demanding the Reality stone.

Peter looked around at his team and noticed Drax inching forward, ready to attack. He tried to get him to stop. Drax was going to lose their element of surprise. But Peter's lack of authority didn't do much to stop him.

Mantis jumped in, putting the Destroyer to sleep. He crashed to the ground, alerting Thanos of their presence.

Hiding behind an empty display case, Peter made a plan. "Okay, Gamora, Mantis. You go _right_."

But again his lack of leadership was doing wonders today. Gamora instantly rushed to his left.

"The _other_ right." He whisper-screamed at her retreating figure.

Gamora jumped in, hacking and slashing, managing to hit a few good blows onto Thanos. Peter watched her pull out the knife she was holding earlier and stab it into his heart.

"Why?" Thanos mumbled as he crashed to the ground, blood spewing down his chest.

Gamora cried as she watched the closest thing she had to a father die in front of her, by her own hands. All of the pent up emotion was too much for her as she sobbed on the ground.

"That was quick." Peter said, confused,

Peter watched as the Collector started clapping from inside his cage. Too much happened at once and all of a sudden, Thanos' voice filled their ears.

His body on the ground disintegrated into red dust.

All around them, Knowhere was in ruins, patches of flames surrounded them.

Thanos was standing again, walking even, out of thin air right before them. A shiny red stone on his gauntlet.

He grabbed Gamora, as Drax and Mantis rushed forward. Peter doesn't even know what happened to them, how it happened to them. Drax was sliced into forty pieces, while Mantis exploded like a compressed spring.

Any and all semblance of a plan flew out of Peter's mind. Thanos had his girl and did God knows what with his friends.

Peter rushed from behind his cover, guns trained on Thanos's head. "Let her go, Grimace."

"Peter!" Gamora called, tears streaming down her face.

"I told you to go _right_." He said.

"Now."

"You let her go!" Peter threatened, his gun looking smaller and weaker compared to Thanos' weapon. Peter looked him in the eyes.

"Ahh, the boyfriend." Thanos chided.

"I like to think of myself more as a tightened, killing, long-term, booty-call. Let her go!" His eyes started becoming misty. He had to save Gamora.

"Peter-" She tried.

"I'm gonna blow that nutsack of a chin right off your face." Peter's hand quivered. Doubts in his mind were starting to pour in.

He didn't know if he could save her this time.

"Not him." Gamora said, her voice cracking.

Peter looked at her confused. They locked eyes and he understood.

He kept looking between Gamora and Thanos, his gun getting heavier and heavier in his hand.

"You promised!" She called to him.

Teardrops were starting to fall from his face. He knew what this meant. He knew what she wanted.

But how could he do it if it wasn't what _he_ wanted?

Peter's hand was quaking more than it's ever done before. He knew what he had to do.

He _knew_ what he had to do.

He lowered his arm, pointing the gun at Gamora, trying to gather the courage to actually commit.

"Oh, daughter. You expect too much from him." Thanos said.

Peter felt the splash of his teardrops.

Looking at the love of his life, trying to gather the courage to do what he promised he would do.

"She's asked, hasn't she? Do it." Thanos said, encouraging Peter to kill her.

Peter and Gamora's eyes locked. A silent conversation. A battle of wills.

Tears were streaming down the couple's faces. There was no turning back now.

"Do it!" Thanos' voice boomed. He pushed Gamora closer to the gun in Peter's hand.

Gamora's breathing was heavy, laboured.

"I told you to go _right_." Peter repeated, overcome with tears. Overcome with emotions. Overcome with guilt.

"I love you, more than anything." She said, not breaking eye contact with Peter.

"I love you, too." He said.

His heart beat in his chest. It felt like it would break through. He wanted to do something else. _Anything_ else.

But she made him promise on his mom.

His breathing grew faster. He steeled himself for what he had to do. For what she _needed _him to do. His arm quivered so much he thought he might miss the shot.

He closed his teary eyes because no matter what Gamora wanted him to do, he could never _watch_ her die.

He pulled the trigger.

And they all got to watch as bubbles came out of his gun, the reality stone doing its job.

"I like you." Thanos said.

And then they were gone.

* * *

O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O

* * *

So as Peter and the remaining Guardians hunted down Thanos, who could really blame him as he punched Thanos over and over again, demanding to know what happened to the love of his life.

* * *

**Okay so here are some of the thoughts running through star-lords head leading to the moment Gamora is taken from him. I tried to be as accurate as possible so almost all lines in this fic are directly lifted from the film. I really like this because the emotion between peter and gamora is so raw. hopefully i was able to transfer it over to text and have it still have the same effect. I'm also gonna try out a couple different titles for this fic because i'm not sure how much I like 'The Adventures of the Guardians' More to come (hopefully) All mistakes are mine and I hope you all enjoyed**


	3. sacrifices and swords

**Words w/out AN: 2211**

**Pairing(s): Starmora**

**I own nothing**

sacrifices and swords

* * *

Peter knew he would sacrifice himself to save anyone on his team. He had no qualms about stepping in front of the bullet. He just never expected to have to do it so soon.

* * *

O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O

* * *

"It's a simple job, Quill." Rocket said. The Guardians were gathered around a table in the commons room of the Milano. "My contact in the weapons market said there was a guy who wanted a weapon and needed our expertise to secure the weapon."

"Yeah, I know, Rocket." Peter said. "I was there, too."

"You were there, too?" Drax said surprised, sitting up from the chair he was in.

"Yes! I was there."

"I must not have noticed you then. Were you wearing a disguise?" Drax asked.

"No, Drax. I was not wearing a disguise."

"Now that I think about it," Gamora piped in. "I don't remember seeing you there either."

"What?" Peter looked over at her. "The meeting with Rocket's contact was literally thirty minutes ago."

"My contact said the guy we're dealing with is willing to part with _a lot_ of units to get this weapon." Rocket said.

"I know what he said. I was there!"

"Whatever." Rocket said. "We should definitely do this."

"I don't know." Star-Lord said. "I don't know if we should deal with this guy."

"What? Why not?" Rocket demanded. "A lot of units can buy us a lot of stuff."

"I agree with Peter." Gamora said. "This guy seemed really suspicious. I got a weird feeling around him."

"Of course he seemed suspicious. He seemed like your typical jackass warlord that would use the weapon for hurting innocent people." Rocket confirmed.

"Rocket!" Gamora exclaimed. "And you still wanna do business with this guy?"

"But…" Rocket said. "But the units?"

"I am Groot."

"What do you mean the units don't matter?" Rocket complained.

"Gamora's right." Peter said. "We shouldn't do business with this guy."

"This sucks. This really sucks." Rocket complained. "There goes our payday. We save the galaxy a couple times and now all we ever do is the right thing."

"Well…on the bright side…" Peter said. "The contact said the weapon this guy wanted was apparently really powerful. I wouldn't mind having a really powerful weapon for myself."

"You wanna screw over a warlord by taking the weapon he's paying us to collect?" Drax asked.

"Yes." Rocket replied. "If we can't have the units, I guess I could sleep better if we had a really powerful weapon."

"Okay. Just making sure we're all on the same page. I think it sounds like fun."

"Y'know, if you guys wanted to." Rocket proposed. "We could accept this guys offer, ask for 50% of the units up front, then keep the weapon for ourselves."

"Yes." Drax said. "I like this plan. Half of a lot, is still a lot."

"Uhh, I don't know guys…" Peter looked over at Gamora. "What do you think G'mora?"

"Well, he is a potential warlord…" She said.

"Yes!" Rocket said. "That's a yes."

* * *

O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O

* * *

This guy wasn't joking, Peter thought. He was going to pay the _serious_ units if they gave him the weapon. He agreed to the half up front thing and now they were all two hundred thousand units richer, _each_. Getting to the weapon wasn't even that hard either. The guy gave them a detailed map to the old, forgotten temple it was locked up in.

There were a couple people guarding the entrance, and a few more actually in the temple but the Guardians took them out with relative ease. A trap or two almost took his head off but Gamora managed to pull him out of the way using her super-fast reflexes.

"Watch yourself, idiot." She'd mutter, but Peter knew there was no sting behind her words. He's saved her enough times, too.

The Guardians eventually found the vault that held the weapon and made their way towards the display in the center of the room.

The chamber they were in was stone brick, and damp. It looked large but it also looked empty. A sword was on display in the center.

"What? A sword? I can't use a sword." Rocket moaned.

"Yeah, but it's a super-powerful sword." Peter said.

"Yeah, but I can't use a sword."

"Well, I can." Gamora said stepping up to inspect it.

It didn't look super-powerful. It was a shiny, metal sword, with a leather-bound handle. Red lines ascended out of a glowing ruby in the hilt.

Fancy? Sure, but not super-powerful.

"This thing better shoot lasers or something." Rocket said, scanning the sword and the pedestal it was in for any more traps.

"It's clean." He called out.

Peter watched as Gamora stepped forward to pick up the sword. He braced for some hidden curse to spring out and kill them all, but as Gamora put her hand on the hilt, nothing happened. She effortlessly pulled it out.

"Alrighty then." Peter said. "No traps, no curses, one sword. Let's go."

Gamora swung it around in her hand, testing the balance of it. She took a practice swing on a nearby tree root, slicing it clean in half.

"Something feels off about this thing." She said.

"Like the balance?"

"No, it's balanced perfectly for me." She said. "But it cut through that thick root like it was nothing. I felt no resistance at all.

"Great, so the sword can cut things." Rocket deadpanned.

"Well, try cutting something else."

Gamora looked around. She eyed the pedestal. It was a thick chunk of metal. Peter doubted he could blast a hole in it with explosives, much less cut it in two.

Gamora swung and Peter surprisingly watched as the pedestal became two neat pieces with a line down the middle.

"Holy shit." Rocket said.

Drax boomed with laughter. "That was amazing. Try me next! Try and cut my arm."

He held up his arm toward her but she shook her head.

"We definitely need to make sure that guy doesn't get this." Gamora said.

"Agreed." Peter said. "Let's get back to the ship."

Just as they went to head towards the exit, the guy they were planning to screw over walked in.

"I heard everything." He snarled. "I decided to come down here and pick up the weapon from you. But you were planning on cutting me out! I paid a hefty fee for what I thought was the best team around."

He raised a gun and pointed it at Gamora.

"I'm going to enjoy this."

The man shot.

Star-Lord's mind was moving faster than it's ever moved, adrenaline helped him process everything.

He watched Drax charge the man. Groot was extending his arm to tangle the guy, and Rocket aimed his guns.

Gamora wasn't doing anything, however. She was just staring at the man, frozen, as a bullet travelled towards her.

So, Peter did the first thing that came to mind. He stepped in front of Gamora.

He felt the bullet dig into his upper-left shoulder. He watched as blood slowly drained out, as he heard the cry of Gamora behind him.

He saw her aim the sword at the guy and a red bolt of energy shot out of the sword tip.

So, it does have lasers, he thought.

He fell backwards and hit his head, _hard_. Things started becoming fuzzy. Why didn't the bullet hurt him anymore? What happened to the potential warlord?

He heard shouting around him as the shapes of his friends ran towards him. They surrounded him until he couldn't see anything but their crowded bodies. His vision was getting darker and darker but he could make out that they were scared.

Everything around him was happening in slow motion. Drax was picking him up. He saw Rocket ripping open his shirt where he was shot.

Don't rip my shirt. I like this shirt, Peter thought, but he didn't have the strength to say anything. He tried to swat him away but his arms wouldn't obey him. It seemed like the only thing he could do was breathe and see.

But his vision was getting darker and his breaths became more laboured.

He saw Gamora grab his hand.

That was weird. Why couldn't he feel her touch is hand. Usually, she was a pleasant warmth to his touch.

He tasted blood in the back of his throat and mentally cringed.

They had somehow already gotten to the ship. Drax set him down on a table and he promptly blacked out.

* * *

O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O

* * *

Peter woke up a few times after that, but it was never for long. Every now and then, he heard a steady beeping mixed with one of his favourite songs. He looked around and saw he was in a bed in an unfamiliar room. People came and left, sometimes interacting with him. He tried to speak but nothing ever came out.

He saw Gamora pressed up against him on a chair. Rocket, Drax and Groot were strewn throughout the room. They were all talking, but none of them noticed him looking around.

He was seeing everything but he couldn't comprehend it. It was like Peter was watching a television show. He could spectate all he wanted but nothing he did affected what was happening.

Peter looked down at his chest, an irking pain started to develop. He saw a large, stained bandage wrapped around his chest.

The steady beeping slowly got louder and louder, drowning out the sounds of his favourite songs. It was becoming unbearable. Peter's vision started to darken and he blacked out.

* * *

O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O

* * *

The next time he woke up, he heard a gasp beside him. The room was empty, except for Gamora staring at him, still holding his hand.

"Peter Quill." She started. "You _unbelievably_ stupid, idiot! What do you think you were doing? You could have died. Everyone has been worried sick because you decided to play hero and step in front of a bullet."

"G'mora-" Peter tried.

"I'm cybernetically _and_ genetically enhanced. One bullet isn't going to kill me. But _you_, you…"

"G'mora-" He tried again.

"You could have died, Peter." Her voice broke. "You could have died...and it would've been my fault."

She lowered her head and softly sobbed into his shoulder.

The pressure on his wound was starting to hurt him but he didn't say anything.

"It's alright." He comforted.

"No it's not."

"I'm alive. You're alive. That's all we need."

"You don't need to sacrifice yourself for me."

"I will always try to save you." Peter said. "Same goes for everyone else on the team."

"But you're half-Terran. You're so weak." She said.

"Jeez. Thanks." Peter muttered.

Gamora lightly punched his arm, which caused a flare-up of pain throughout his body.

"Oh my God. I'm so sorry." She rested her hand on his forearm lightly. "But you know what I mean."

"Where is everyone?" Peter asked, looking around the room. "Everyone was here last time I saw them."

"What do you mean 'last time you saw them?'" Gamora asked, confused. "You've been unconscious the entire time you've been here."

Peter clearly remembers waking up a few times. He looked to his right and saw a heart monitor attached to him. That must've been the beeping he heard. And Gamora was playing Awesome Mix Volume 1 on a speaker nearby.

He decided not to dwell too much on whatever it was his dream hallucinations showed him.

"Where are they?" He asked again.

"It's like, 3:00 am." Gamora said. "They're all asleep on the ship."

He looked out the window and saw it was dark.

"Why aren't you with them?" He asked.

"I- I couldn't stand to leave you here alone. It wasn't right, being on your ship without you."

Peter yawned and laid back against the pillow behind him.

"Have you slept at all? How long was I out?"

"You've been unconscious for almost two days. And no, I haven't slept."

Peter scooched to the opposite side of the bed as carefully as he could. His whole upper body only hurt a bit after that motion so he considered it a win.

"Hop in." He commanded.

"What? Peter… You can't- I shouldn't… Will we even fit?"

"We can try."

After a bit of begging and puppy dog eyes from Peter, Gamora finally relented. She squeezed beside him. It was a little tight, but Peter didn't mind the closeness.

Gamora rested her head on his shoulder and Peter whispered to her. "Thank you, Gamora. I really appreciate you. I don't know where I'd be without you...and the rest of the team, of course."

She leaned up and tentatively kisses him on his cheek.

"If you _ever_ do something this stupid and reckless again. I will kill you." She threatened.

Peter gulped down his fear and Gamora smirked.

"Thank you." She whispered, her adrenaline waning as she realised how tired she actually was. "Thank you for saving me."

The two drifted to sleep. Only to be rudely awakened by a laughing racoon and his grey friend.

* * *

**Here we go again with another starmora fic. hopefully more to come. i'm not sure how i feel about this fic yet, so it'd be nice if you told me what you thought of it in the review (or you can shoot me a pm, i'll probably respond) this idea isn't original, but i thought i'd give my go at it.**

**in case anyone wants some more info on that warlord guy, ill add it here, since there wasn't really an opportunity to drop it in the fic.**

**\- he's not a warlord, just an eccentric weapons collector who has very deep pockets.**

**\- he is incredibly rich and doesn't care what happens to who, as long as**** h****e gets his weapon. although he could've gotten the weapon himself, he never likes to do his own dirty work, only going as far as to retrieve the weapon (go figure, a weapons collector who doesn't use his weapons**

**\- the guardians weren't wrong when they thought something was off about him, he kicks puppies for fun (that's all i could think of when it comes to backstories and why someone is evil)**

**and now a bit of fun information about the sword:**

**\- the gem in the centre is a super-charged ruby, when harnessed correctly, it shoots energy lasers**

**\- the sword was able to cut through anything, one because the ruby and two because the sword is an ancient weapon crafted by the dwarves on Nidavillir, kinda like stormbreaker**

**\- the wielder of the sword develops an emotional connection with the sword, amplifying its powers. (kinda like yondu and the arrow) so when Peter got shot, all of the emotion Gamora felt was picked up by the sword, and that's why she was able to shoot lasers from it**

**maybe we'll see more of the sword in the future, now that i've created so much lore for it, lol.**

**also i decided to stick with 'a developing love' although technically, with the order of the stories, their love has already developed as of last chapter**

**anyway, all mistakes are mine, and i hope you all enjoyed (drop a review or favourite, they feed my soul :) )**


	4. sleep-talking songs

**Words w/out AN: 1093**

**Pairing(s): Starmora**

**I own nothing**

sleep-talking songs

* * *

The first time it happens she thinks Peter is… how does he say it? 'Pulling her leg.'

She had just gotten back from getting a glass of water and was about to get back in her and Peter's bed when she hears him murmur something.

She leans closer.

"Come and get… get your…" He mumbles.

"Peter, why are you singing that song so late at night?" Gamora asks, confused about why singing is a priority for him when everyone else on the ship wants to sleep.

It's not like his singing was very loud. Gamora couldn't hear it unless she was right beside him, which unfortunately for her, she is, since they happen to sleep right beside each other.

She swears, if his singing keeps her up when all she wants to do is sleep…

"Peter, why are you singing?" She asks again. She notices his eyes are closed and now she's suspicious on what kind of trick he's playing.

"Are you fake sleeping?"

She gets a pretty convincing snore in response. She pokes him a couple of times and after confirming to herself he is indeed sleeping, she tucks herself into bed beside him and falls asleep.

She questions herself, maybe nothing even happened and she was just going delusional.

* * *

O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O

* * *

She tries to bring it up tomorrow. Gamora's getting dressed the next morning and Peter wakes up behind her. She starts humming the beat of the song, trying to spark any sort of recognition of last night.

"What's got you in a good mood?" He asks. "You almost never hum the songs. The most I've seen you do is tap your feet to the beat."

Peter gets up and hugs her from behind, pressing a kiss to her cheek.

"When's the last time you've heard this song?" She asks.

"Maybe a couple days ago? Why?"

"I could've sworn I heard you singing it last night."

"Maybe I was sleep-talking." He suggests.

"Sleep...talking?" Gamora asks.

"Yeah. Sleep-talking. Us Terrans are able to talk while we sleep. Although I don't really know when I do it, since I'm sleeping and all."

"Do you remember the conversations?"

"No. And they usually never make any sense."

"Interesting…" She says.

* * *

O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O

* * *

Gamora gets up for another glass of water the next night. She debates just keeping some bottles of it in their room, so she doesn't have to get up every night.

She sits down on the edge of the bed, eyeing Peter carefully. He doesn't do anything out of the ordinary for at least five minutes and Gamora's about to call it quits.

When he finally does it. He _sleep-talks._

"I don't wanna." He mumbles, turning over.

His eyes were still closed but he had a frown on his face.

"What do you not want to do Peter?" She says, trying to strike up a conversation to see what he'll say in his unconscious state.

"I don't wanna leave." He answers.

"Where are you now?"

"With my friends."

"Do you like being with your friends?"

"Yeah. They're the best." He smiles in his sleep and it looks as if years of stress and worry have been lifted off of him.

To Gamora, he looks at peace. And if she had to admit it, his boyish grin was also fairly cute.

"Who do you like most?" She asks, wondering what kind of response he'll give.

"G'mora." He replies. "She's pretty."

She smiles at that. Gamora runs her hand through his hair and kisses him on the cheek.

"You aren't terrible yourself." She whispers to him.

She talks with him a bit more but his answers start becoming more and more incoherent.

"What do you think of Rocket?" She asks.

"Purple side." He confidently replies.

She figures his answers won't make any more sense so she tucks herself into his side and falls asleep, amused at their conversation.

* * *

O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O

* * *

The following morning Gamora wakes up as Peter is getting dressed. She rolls over and turns to him.

"You sing in your sleep." She comments. "You also make weird conversation."

"Well, we knew about the singing. What do I talk about?"

"Oh, not much." Gamora sing-songs. "Just how I'm pretty and that you love your friends _so_ much."

"Oh my god." Peter mumbles. "Why did I ever tell you about the sleep-talking. I just gave you so much more blackmail material."

Peter sighs and covers his face with his hand.

"What are you talking about?" She says. "It's cute."

"Maybe you think so…" Peter complains. "But I'm a manly, killing machine, not some cute, sleep-talker."

He pouts and sits beside her on the bed. He whispers, "And if Rocket hears any of this, I'm screwed."

Gamora runs a hand through his hair. "I wouldn't worry about it. Maybe he sleep-talks, too."

Gamora wonders if she sleep-talks, too, and if Groot and Drax also sleep-talk.

She smiles as she imagines Groot murmuring "I am Groot."

"Yes. Genius plan babe." Peter says. "We can find out his secrets first and use them against him."

"Hmm." She purrs. "Or maybe, you could stop getting dressed, and come back to bed with me, _Star-Lord_."

Gamora tries to tug his Ravager's leather jacket off.

Peter is sitting there, contemplating it, and she knows it. He's looking off, out the doorway, letting the jacket fall down his arms. She's got him hooked.

"I guess it couldn't hurt." He says.

He pulls off the jacket and pulls the blanket over them both.

"Your sleep-talking really is cute," Gamora says. "And I was thinking it would be best if we could keep it between us."

"Yes… So Rocket can't blackmail me."

"No… Maybe just because…" She remembers back to how innocent and pure he looked. How years of stress were swept away. How she was the only one who got to see him like that. "Because it's a special moment for me. For us. And sometimes we should keep special moments just in between us, so they mean more."

Peter hums, his eyes closed. "Like our midnight conversations in the cockpit."

"Exactly."

She hears the soft, steady breathing of Peter beside her and realizes he's asleep, and as much as she'd like to stay up and listen to him sleep-talk again, sometimes it's better to just enjoy the moment. So she cuddles further into him and drifts to sleep.

* * *

**okay so this fic has a super domesticated Gamora, she's probably really out of character, compared to the cold, master assassin she usually is, but i like to think that with enough time she would have opened up to Peter and would have been like this around him, but she would also still be a savage who could beat him up if she needs to. also the ending of this fic is pretty bad because i had the sleep-talking idea, but once i finished that i wasn't sure what to do so i just did some cute moment between them and ended it. anyways, all mistakes are mine and i hope you all enjoyed !**


	5. a mother's blessing

**This isn't anything new, just adding my other fic, _a mother's blessing _****to this collection**

**Words w/out AN: 1016**

**Pairing(s): Starmora**

**I own nothing**

a mother's blessing

* * *

Gamora knows three things about Peter Quill for certain.

He loves to dance.

He loves his music.

He loves his mother.

Usually, the three are interconnected in some way or another

Gamora knows Peter loves to dance. He says it's because he and his mother would dance together all the time. His mother says dancing can solve any problem. She knows he loves music. Probably because he's spent so much time dancing to it than doing anything else. He received a cassette from his mom as a gift, full of music that he listens to all the time. And he definitely loves his mom, the person who has done so much to shape him into the man he is today. So it makes sense that when the person he loves the most introduces him to dancing and music, he would love those too.

Gamora remembers stories of his time on Terra that Peter would tell her before he was picked up by the Ravagers. Peter told her he loves to dance because it would put a smile on his mother's face. He told her of times before his mother got cancer. How it was so much fun dancing together.

Peter always had a wistful smile on his face whenever he told Gamora about times with his mother. As Gamora grew closer to the crew of the Milano, and closer to Peter, she came to want to meet the great woman that Peter talked about.

Unfortunately, that wasn't possible, since Meredith Quill was dead, but in time Gamora had come to learn of all the reasons Peter loved his mom. Her kindness was never-ending. Her laugh was delightful. She was always supportive.

It became obvious why Peter loved his mom.

Gamora started to cherish the stories Peter told her. Of this ever-loving, ever-caring parental figure. She wanted to learn as much as possible because she barely remembers a time as serene with her parents.

She was too young to appreciate them before they were taken away by Thanos.

She remembered her time under the care of Thanos as anything but ruthless and cruel. If she could even consider what he did as 'caring.' He was the polar opposite of how Peter described his mom. Never showing affection. Never showing that he actually cared.

The most he's ever shown was 'pride' and that was when Gamora was fighting her sister for sport.

Of course, Peter hasn't had the most wonderful luck of the draw when it comes to father figures either, one being a maniacal, egotistical planet that killed his mother, the other (better) one being the leader of a group of space bandits that abducted him from his home.

But at least, deep down, the blue one cared for him. Even if he had a threatening way of showing it.

Peter had once said that one of his biggest regret with Yondu, is not realizing that Yondu genuinely cared about him until it was too late.

He's also said that his another one of his biggest regrets was never taking his mother's hand as she died in front of him.

Gamora tries to comfort him as much as she can, and for most of the time, it worked. But occasionally he'll have passing memories of his mom and it makes Gamora's heart clench every time knowing there's nothing she can actively do to ease his pain other than offer hollow words of comfort.

Gamora remembers finding Peter sulking in his bed. She crawled in next to him, not asking what's wrong. Instead staying silent and waiting for him to open up on his own. He was silent longer than he usually would've been.

Gamora looked up at him from her spot in his side.

"It's mother's day today." Peter said, staring straight forward. "It's almost my mom's birthday, too."

Gamora knew what birthdays are. And she understands why Peter would be saddened by the anniversary of his mother. Too many bad memories.

But she's never heard of a 'mother's day' before. Is this a day where everyone became mothers? It seemed unlikely people would coordinate such a thing to occur on a singular day.

"What is a mother's day?" Gamora asked Peter. Her hand had snaked its way up his body, resting on his chest.

"It's some stupid Terran tradition." Peter shook his head. "It's a day dedicated to all the mothers. You're supposed to tell them how much you appreciate them and how thankful you are."

"It doesn't sound stupid."

"Well, it is." He huffed. "It's all about telling your mom how amazing they are."

"Do you think your mom isn't amazing?" Gamora rhetorically asked, because _obviously,_ Peter thinks his mom is the best.

"My mom is amazing." He said. "But it's not like...it's not like I'm able to tell her that. So it sucks."

"It's okay, Peter." Gamora rubbed her hand across his chest. "I doubt the annual tradition is about physically telling your mom. And if it is, that's stupid. I think it should be enough if you appreciate her and remember everything she's done for you."

Peter groaned aggressively, turning to face her. "Why do you have to make so much sense?" He asked. "I was perfectly fine pouting about the whole thing, but you decided to come here and make me feel better. Shame on you."

He leaned forward kissing her.

"Thank you…" He whispered against her lips. "I think my mom would've loved you."

And that's how Gamora knew he meant it. Because he thinks his mom would love her, too.

* * *

O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O

* * *

Gamora knows four things about Peter Quill for certain.

He loves to dance.

He loves his music.

He loves his mother.

He loves her.

And it's not like she had any doubts about that last one. He can barely survive on the battlefield without her, much less function on a daily basis. But it's always nice to know that he thinks the one woman he will love and has always loved, his mom, would like her.

* * *

**alright so i will be adding this story to the _a developing love_ in due time, i just wanna see if people prefer it as a solo fic or if it's better in the compilation. not much to say for this AN. So all mistakes are mine and i hope you all enjoyed !**


End file.
